We all knew that Devon Alexander had the boxing skill and ring savvy to outsmart and outscore Juan Urango, but few could have expected him to stop the immensely strong Colombian in Saturday’s 140-pound championship fight on HBO.

Showtime has brought many rising stars to fans’ attention, and another one will be unveiled on Saturday when Lenny Zappavigna, the unbeaten Australian lightweight, makes his U.S. television debut against Fernando Angulo, an Ecuadorian based in Venezuela. The scheduled 12-rounder is for the vacant IBO title, but only Zappavigna can win it as Angulo weighed in at 138 pounds, three pounds over the lightweight limit.

In his last appearance Vic Darchinyan easily demolished Mexico’s Tomas Rojas in two rounds. So far, no Mexican fighter has been able to stand up to the powerful Aussie-Armenian. Darchinyan bludgeoned Cristian Mijares, busted up Jorge Arce and overpowered contenders Victor Burgos and Luis Maldonado.

The junior welter division is one of the hottest in boxing, and two champions meet on HBO on Saturday in an excellent contest when WBC champion Devon Alexander takes on Juan Urango, who holds the IBF title.

Crowd-pleasing Mexican lightweights meet in the main event on Fox Sports Espanol on Saturday when Ivan Valle, something of a staple on Spanish-language TV boxing shows, meets Ricardo Dominguez in what should be a lively and competitive 10-rounder in Tijuana.

A gritty and accomplished performance in defeating John Molina in November brings quick reward for Martin Honorio — a main event on Friday Night Fights. The veteran Mexican returns to the Pechanga casino resort, where he upset the odds against Molina, to meet unbeaten Wilton Hilario in a 12-rounder. The fight is for the WBO NABO lightweight title, although at Thursday’s weigh-in Honorio scaled 129 pounds, Hilario 128 1/2, meaning both were inside the junior lightweight limit.

A well-matched domestic fight tops the bill on Sky Sports on Friday when undefeated Gary Sykes meets Andy Morris for the vacant British super featherweight title. Each man was an ABA (English national) champion in the amateurs, while Morris won a Commonwealth Games bronze medal. Sykes will be on home ground at Huddersfield in Yorkshire but Morris is expected to have good support from his hometown of Manchester, which is only about 30 miles away.

Two exciting, unbeaten young fighters meet for the vacant WBO junior featherweight title in the main event on Saturday’s Double Assault PPV show when Wilfredo Vazquez Jr., with a Puerto Rican crowd behind him and his ex-champ father in his corner, faces his stiffest test against Filipino Marvin Sonsona

Unfortunately, some discord has developed concerning Rodel Mayol’s WBC light-flyweight title defence against Omar Nino Romero in Mexico on Saturday night. The Filipino camp has expressed concerns about getting fair treatment in Romero’s hometown of Guadalajara, and the WBC has responded by expressing surprise and pointing out that the organisation stood behind Mayol when he won the title in highly controversial fashion against Edgar Sosa in Mexico last November.

Unbeaten Philadelphia welterweight Mike Jones gets an overdue TV date when he meets Puerto Rican Henry Bruseles in a 10-rounder to be televised by Fox Sports Espanol on Saturday night. I’m not sure that Jones is going to achieve the success of the Philadelphia fighters of the past, either the champions or contenders from that famous fighting city. He is a capable boxer-puncher but can be hesitant when one would expect him to be letting his punches go. Saturday’s fight will give us a better idea of Jones’s potential.


No wagering lines were offered, but there’s an interesting junior middleweight bout on Fox Sports Espanol on Saturday night, with Mexico’s Saul Roman, who is on a four-bout winning run, meeting Gabriel Rosado, who has won three of his last four fights.

Former junior welter champion Kendall Holt returns to the ring after almost a year’s inactivity to meet South African Kaizer Mabuza in an IBF elimination bout on Saturday. The layoff is a concern but Holt is the type of fighter who needs a bout with meaning to get him motivated. This is such a bout, with the winner of the 12-rounder becoming the IBF’s No. 1 challenger in the 140-pound division.

Solid action looks guaranteed in the main event on Friday Night Fights when Antonio Escalante meets Miguel Roman in a featherweight 10-rounder (made at a match weight of 126 pounds). There is something of a local rivalry here. Escalante now lives in El Paso, TX, where the fight takes place, but he was originally from just across the border in Juarez, which is Roman’s hometown.

The latest in promoter Barry Hearn’s popular Prizefighter series features the light-middleweights, with Sky Sports as usual televising the fun from London’s York Hall on Friday. Most of you will know that these tournaments feature eight boxers in a one-night event, all contests of three-rounds duration, with the ultimate winner having to box three times to get the Prizefighter trophy and £32,000 in purse money. (Two substitutes are on standby in case a boxer wins but suffers an injury and is unable to continue in the tournament.)

Vivian Harris, struggling to keep his career alive, appears in Mexico on Saturday on one of those Golden Boy shows that are available only in Latin America, and sad to say the former champion is in the role of opponent against Argentina’s unbeaten Lucas Matthysse.

Exciting prospect Shawn Porter headlines in a Cleveland homecoming on Friday Night Fights when he meets southpaw Russell Jordan for the vacant WBO NABO junior middle title. Porter looked superb in his last appearance, on ShoBox, when he wrecked Jamar Patterson in four rounds in a meeting of unbeaten boxers.